Story+1996-02-15+Munchen,+Germany

´´Gruss gott....thank you....(?) in Munchen, I hope I said that right (chuckles)....good evening ....alright, where was I ?....well, I usually have this speech that I make about the audience being quiet (chuckles) doesn´t seem necessary....but anyway, it´s a community event, somebody around you´s making too much noise, just band together and politely tell ´em to shut the fuck up, alright (chuckles)....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Adam Raised a Cain´**

´´Danke schon, thank you.....thank you, thank you very much....this is a....this is a song, I guess, about trying to be new....you know, it´s hard to do (?)(chuckles) basically it´s about a fella who gets out of prison and he´s trying to find his way....back into his family and back into the world....and uh....trying to find some way to be new.....but if you´ve done things a certain way most of your life....you know, you can lay in bed at night and the very worst part of you....can, uh.....can come up and feel like it´s your only hope so....this is ´Straight Time´ ...´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Straight Time´**

´´Thank you.....thanks, this is uh....this next song, this is a song about uh.....self-knowledge ....self-knowledge is a funny thing in a sense that the less of it you have, the more you think you have, you know (chuckles) that´s the wonderful thing about it, ladies and gentlemen (chuckles) so this is uh.....this is a song about uh....a little self-knowledge coming too late, I guess....also one of the few pop songs that has as its protagonist a shoe salesman, something I´m kind of proud of, alright (chuckles) this is called ´Highway 29´....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Highway 29´**

´´Thanks, uh, in the States, we got a whole group of our citizens whose lives we´ve.... basically deemed expendable, as, as the price of doing business....we got murder incorporated....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Murder Incorporated´**

´´Thanks.....alright, this song, this is a, this next song, this is a song that....I never recorded ....you´ll see why in a minute....if I recorded it, I´d be divorced right now ! no (chuckles) this is a song about, uh, Manner und Frauen....sehr schwierig....aber (?)(chuckles)....yeah, that´s about the size of it right there but, but anyway I´m, uh....first of all, I make all this shit up so don´t believe anything I´m about to tell you, alright ? (chuckles) and uh, I´m in my mother´s Cadillac and I´m driving along this unnamed freeway in this unnamed city....a very long time ago....and uh....I´m gonna be an hour late for dinner at a friend of mine´s house so....I pull off the freeway and decide to practise some of my new-found maturity by calling him and telling him I´m gonna be late....uh....but I get off the freeway and it´s just industrial buildings except for this one little bar on the corner (?) so (chuckles) and I pull over, I park the Cadillac, I go inside and I go to the payphone but I´ve only got 20 bucks....so I go to the bar and I ask the bartender to give me some change.....and he says ´Well, we don´t give any change around here´....so, you know, I ask him ´Gee, is....you mean like nobody in the bar gives change or, or the whole community´s gotten together and said ´Fuck ´em, no more change´ ? I don´t get it´, alright....so, uh (?) uh....a waitress is watching....and she doesn´t say anything, she just comes up and goes like this and she´s got a quarter in her hand.....I say ´Thank you´, I go to the payphone....uh, I dial the number but it seems that I´m just outside the area code.....it´s gonna cost me 50 cents....so I say ´Well´, I go back to her and I say ´Gee, it´s a 50-cent call´ ....she says ´Well, that´s too bad.....but´....this is where the song comes in, in case you were wondering (chuckles) ´But if you give me a ride, I´ll give you another quarter´ (no response from the crowd) that´s it....alright, so here we are.....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´It´s the Little Things That Count´**

´´You should always carry change....it´s an international problem right there (chuckles).... alright....this is a song about, uh....set up in the San Gabriel mountains outside of Los Angeles and uh....basically, uh....there was a group of, of homeless Vietnam Vets that set up a camp out there, this is a story about one of ´em has a grown daughter that comes looking for her daddy and what he, and what he says to her, this is called ´Brothers Under the Bridges´....”
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Brothers Under the Bridges´ (following ´It´s the Little Things That Count´)**

´´Danke, thank you....alright....this is uh....another song about Männer und Frauen....sehr schwierig....aber (?)....(?) get applause for saying the same thing twice, it doesn´t count, that´s alright (chuckles) well, uh, yeah, this is a song I always preface by saying that I had this, I was in one relationship, that´s right, one, for 30 years (some people clap) oh (chuckles) but it was, it was with a lot of different women, you see, that was (chuckles) all different kinds of girls but uh, I was very true to myself, I guess (chuckles) and that´s....oh.... what can you say ?....then kind of to prove that you, you got it real wrong, then you get married, you see (chuckles) and you go ´Woah !....I fucked that up real bad´ (chuckles) then you get divorced....ouch (chuckles) but then, if you´re lucky, you know, you get married again and things go well....uh, that´s enough, uh, philosophy for that, for the night (chuckles) but uh....this is a song about missing it....missing, just missing it....but, uh, in love, ´course, just missing is still missing, this is called ´Dry Lightning´....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Dry Lightning´**

´´Thank you very much....Manner und Frauen (chuckles)....this is a....this is a song, I guess, about a woman....I guess this is a song, when I was a, when I was a kid, I used to think that ....I kind of grew up in the late, second half of the ´60´s and I remember growing thinking that, yeah, if you wrote the right song....and you did the right thing, you could really change the world in some fashion, you know, that....as if you could even get its attention, you know (chuckles) but uh....I think then you go through a period of adulthood where you look at the world and it seems so intractable, it seems so basically unchangeable, you see these old same old bloody hatreds come up again and uh....but this is a song about a woman that makes a particular decision....at a particular moment and, uh, changes herself, I guess, and in doing so changes the part of the world that she touches....that´s not so bad.....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Spare Parts´**

´´Thanks, this is, uh....this is a, uh....song that, uh, just before I come over here, oh, I guess about two or three weeks ago, I was in the States and I played this place called Youngstown, Ohio and....it was a town, was, uh....the center of the, center of the steel industry....oh, one of the centers of the steel industry (?) for the first half of the century and uh, I guess most of the mills closed down in late 70´s, early 80´s and since then the town´s lost, I guess, two-thirds of its population and thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs....and uh....yeah, you can go to the place where that was once so alive and you realise that in my country these were the people built the buildings that we lived in and the bridges that we crossed and gave their sons to the wars that we fought....and were, uh, just deemed expendable so....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Youngstown´**

´´Thank you, thank you, thanks a lot.....uh (chuckles) uh, it´s good for an old man to sit down (chuckles) well, this, uh, this next, uh, four songs are all set on the, uh, California-Mexico border and Texas-Mexico border and uh.....when I get a chance, I have these three brothers that I travel with and we take these little road trips out through the Southwest....for some male-bonding and.....what´s the German word for ´male-bonding´ ? (chuckles)(someone yells: ´Springsteen !´) oh, there it is ! (laughs) that´s good, I´m considered a word in the German language, I´m proud of that (laughs) ´man-dancing´ we like to call it (?)(chuckles) but uh....and uh....and we stay off the interstates and we sort of, we take these, uh....little state and county roads and basically they take you out, you know, there´s these little four-corner towns about every 100 miles, there´s a.....grocery store, there´s a motel, there´s a gas-station and of course a bar, right (chuckles) all the necessities of human existence.... microcosm of the world we know right there (chuckles) and uh.....uh....and then there´s the 100 miles and then there´s another one, you know and 100 miles and another one and then you bump into a city somewhere along the way (chuckles) so anyway, I´m there Springsteening or whatever you wanna call it (chuckles) and uh (chuckles) and uh, uh....it was late at night, it´s about 11.30 and we´re sitting outside this little motel and we´re having a few drinks and playing cards and it´s a beautiful night, it´s like, you know, 85 degrees, it´s one of those nights when you can feel sort of the heat from the day, you know, come back up at you through, through the ground....and uh, these two Mexican men come in from the West and one was a young kid, he was kind of high, you know, having a good time and they took the room next to us and, and there was another fellow about my age and ....and he´s looking over our motorcycles and....he, he started talking and he started telling me about his....a younger brother that he had that had, uh, died in a Southern California motorcycle accident, rode with a group called the (?)....and uh....you know, something about the way he talked about his, his brother or maybe, maybe it had to do with the fact that, that first line of family always feels like it´s to protect....you know, to protect and to take care of the ones that come after you....but uh....we moved on and years, a year later, I was writing a song about the California drug trade in the Central Valley where the Mexican gangs come up and hire migrant workers to work in the drug labs and they´re the ones that get either blown up or busted by the DEA.....and it was a song about two brothers and I heard this fella´s voice in my head a quite bit while I was writing so....I always dedicate this for my mysterious friend ....this is called ´Sinaloa Cowboys´....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Sinaloa Cowboys´**

´´Thank you....when I was a....a kid, my dad was a Western-freak, you know....all he used to watch on TV was Westerns....which was alright....except on Sunday night....there was this Western called ´Bonanza´....it was on, I think it was on opposite ´The Ed Sullivan Show´.... which was the show all the rock groups were on....so Sunday night lines were drawn in the house....and uh....for most of my life, I hated the sight of Lorne Greene after that (chuckles) ....hey, but I’ve gotten over it, you gotta move on, you know what I mean ? (chuckles) and then I grew up and I kind of became a Western-freak (chuckles) Freud.....where are you ? (chuckles) so this is a song, it’s sort of....I was always interested in the sheriff....what that job was like....and this is a song about young guys that come out the army and....go to work for the California border patrol....and uh....you know, it’s a tough job, I think...it was Carlos Fuentes who said that....(?) California was Mexico up until 1848....that the border is really not a border, it’s a scar, you know....so it’s hard to know where that line really is.....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´The Line´ **

´´it makes you kind of sick, you know....and what´s worse they bring ´em with ´em....and they start to touch all your shit and stuff....I lived alone for 30 years, I don´t like that (chuckles) then you have your own and you can kiss your shit goodbye (chuckles)(?) but, I guess, you know, someone always asks what they, what do they do, what do they, you know, what, you know, how has your life changed and all that stuff....and uh.....the only thing I figured was that kids are like this little window, like this window onto the grace that´s in the world....and uh....they seem to have some sort of daily access to it and they bring it into your life, you know, I think that as you get older, you become an adult that that window, it feels like it starts to close down on you....and that´s why people, I think, go to films or, or, you know, read novels or music or engage in bizarre sexual practises, for that matter, you know (chuckles) to get some of that grace in your life, man, hallelujah (chuckles) so, uh, what they do, they bring it with them when they come so....this is a song about these kids down in San Diego that come hopping across the border and....you know, they´re running drugs, they´re 12, 13, 14 years old, end up selling themselves in this part of town called Balboa Park, uh, I guess it´s about what happens when that grace gets violated....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Balboa Park´**

´´Thank you.....I was, uh, I grew up in a house that.....there wasn´t a lot of culture and a lot of books or people didn´t talk about art or anything like that very much, everybody was busy kind of, I don´t know, keeping their heads above water, you know, trying to get from day to day but uh....so really, I guess, music was....you know, sort of the first thing that kind of opened me up....(?) possibilities....that were out there and a sense of life....and uh....then when I was, I was in my late, mid-20´s, I guess, a friend of mine showed me John Ford´s Grapes of Wrath....and I remember sitting there after it was over....and thinking ´Yeah, that´s, that´s what I wanna do ....those are the things that I wanna....I wanna deal with´....and uh....it´s a very lovely picture, you know, there´s a....I guess it, it sort of asks, that picture asks a question that....really we ask ourselves on some daily basis, you know, which is whether we´re, do we have individual souls or....and do we rise and fall on our own, with our own fate or are, is there something else, you know, do we rise and fall as one in some fashion....though the world is filled with, you know, good men who´ve fallen and evil men who´ve done well....uh, anyway, there´s a scene towards the end of the picture where Tom Joad is....uh, killed a security guard that killed his friend and uh.....he´s gonna have to leave, he´s gonna have to tell his mother he´s leaving and....she´s already lost her home and lost her family, parts of her family....it´s set up by this dance scene that´s very lovely, in this camp, and it´s sort of....in the middle of all this, you know, hardship (?)(people start clapping) it´s sort of a....I guess it holds out the possibility of, of, uh, it´s supposed to hold out the possibility of beauty....and in beauty there´s always hope so.....after the scene Tom goes into the tent and he, he....wakes his mother and he says ´I gotta go now´, you know....and they step outside under the dark trees and she says ´Well, Tommy, I knew this day would come but how am....how am I gonna know how you are, where you are, if you´re alright, if you´re alive ?´....and he says ´Well, all I know´s I gotta go out and I gotta scratch around, I gotta see what´s wrong, I gotta see if there´s some way that I can make it right.....and you´ll know where I am because at night I´ll be in the darkness that´s all around you when you´re sleeping, Mama....and I´ll be in the sound of men´s voices when they´re angry....I´ll be in the way that kids sound when they come in at night and they know that there´s supper on the table and they know that there´s food and they know that they´re safe.....that they´re safe and they´re protected´....and he disappears into the darkness and uh....the next scene is the Joads heading north for work, the father says ´What are we gonna do now that Tommy´s gone ?´.... and the mother just says ´Oh, we´re gonna keep on going.....we´re gonna keep on going....”
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Across the Border´**

´´Thank you (chuckles) alright, this is for, uh....this is for the old fans out there.....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street ?´**

´´Alright, here´s a song about, uh....oh, faith, hope, brotherhood, sisterhood, every Western I ever saw....this is kind of what I´m talking about....”
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´This Hard Land´**

´´Danke....thank you....I´d like to just take a minute and say thank you, thank you for being a wonderful audience, thank you very much.....thank you....this is a, uh, song, at the end of the....Tom Joad-record I was looking for something that was gonna bring a little light into the record and I´d had, uh, had written ´Across the Border´ but, uh.....that´s sort of a dream that....I don´t know, always stays with people or something that, that´s in your head at night, you know, when you lay down or before you fall asleep....so I was looking for something that would bring some sort of hard light, I guess....and uh....some, something where somebody just makes one decision....that alters things, the things that they can touch, that alters themselves....uh, anyway, this is a song based on an incident that happened in the Texas Gulf Coast in the mid-80´s, at the end of the Vietnam War there was a lot of Vietnamese refugees that came over and there was a tremendous resentment between the refugees and the Texas fishermen, many of whom had fought in, in Vietnam.....this is called ´Galveston Bay´....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´Galveston Bay´**

´´Alright, there I was, sitting at my kitchen table.....trying to think....and I got it, this song is ....nothing but cliches....it´ll sell millions, I tell you ! (chuckles)....´´
 * 15.02.96 Munich, Germany, intro to ´My Best Was Never Good Enough´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//